His gunmen kidnap and kill in Mexico as Sinaloa cartel’s El Mayo denies crimes in US court

Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, co-founder of Mexico’s notorious Sinaloa cartel, pleaded not guilty in a Brooklyn court on Friday to charges stemming from his decades-long role atop one of the world’s most powerful drug trafficking organisations.

El Mayo, who founded the cartel alongside Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán in the 1990s, faces 17 charges, including conspiracy to manufacture and distribute narcotics such as cocaine and fentanyl internationally.

Prosecutors allege he maintained control of the cartel through “extreme and prolonged violence” and the “corruption of public officials.” If convicted, Zambada faces life in prison.

While Zambada entered his plea in New York, his arrest has sparked violent infighting between rival factions of the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico.

Factions fight in Culiacan

Tensions between the two most powerful factions of the cartel, one loyal to El Mayo and another to El Chapo’s sons, the Los Chapitos (Little Chapos), has been rising since July when El Mayo and one of the Los Chapitos, Joaquin Guzman, were arrested in the US.

In Culiacán, the capital of Mexico’s Sinaloa state, shootouts and gunfire have become a near-daily occurrence. Armed convoys openly roam the streets, and several businesses have shuttered amid the chaos. Videos posted on social media show heavily armed gunmen patrolling major streets and show burnt-out vehicles.

Ismael Bojórquez, director of the weekly newspaper Riodoce in Culiacan, which specialises in coverage of organised crime, said cartel violence has taken over the streets. “Cartel gunmen have their shootouts, and kidnap and burn stuff on the streets,” he said.

‘They’re clashing everywhere’

Juan Carlos Ayala, a philosophy professor at the University of Sinaloa, said he personally witnessed three shootouts between Wednesday (September 11) and Thursday (September 12).

“The city appears empty,” Ayala said. “They’re clashing everywhere.”

Ayala added that the infighting has caused significant fear and uncertainty. “They all know each other, they know where each other lives. They come, wreck the houses, take relatives,” he said.

In response, Mexican authorities have deployed nearly 600 elite soldiers to Sinaloa, including 90 special forces sent earlier this week.

As of Wednesday, the state prosecutor’s office reported nine dead, eight injured, and 14 abducted. However, the true death toll may be higher, as cartels are known to recover their own dead.

With inputs from agencies